Server virtualization is the masking of physical server resources (e.g., processors, memory, etc.) from users of the server. Such server resources include the number and identifications of individual physical servers, processors and operating systems. Server virtualization more efficiently utilizes server resources, improves server availability and assists in testing and development.
Virtualized enterprise data centers deploy tens of thousands of virtual machines over hundreds of physical servers. Efficient hardware utilization is a key goal in improving virtual machine systems. One of the main factors contributing to efficient hardware utilization is virtual machine density. The more virtual machines that can be run on a physical server the more efficient the hardware utilization.
Access to server storage resources is often a system bottleneck that prevents full utilization of available hardware resources. The embodiments described below are configured to improve access to server storage resources.